Christopher Leslie: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs and Lord Chancellor, has today published the Government's response to the Public Administration Select Committee's first report of Session 2004–05 on "Government by Inquiry" which was published on 3 February 2005. The Government response includes comments on each of the 22 recommendations of the Committee.
	The Government welcome the Committee's report on the use and effectiveness of independent inquiries into matters of public concern. The Committee's response is of immediate relevance to the current Parliamentary debate on the Inquiries Bill, which has now entered the House of Commons having completed its passage through the House of Lords.
	The Inquiries Bill is designed to provide a comprehensive statutory framework for inquiries set up by Ministers into events that have caused, or have the potential to cause, public concern.
	The Government believe that Government amendments brought forward in the House of Lords address many of the issues raised in the Committee's report. However, the Government is keen that the recommendations in the report, and our response published today, should both help to inform the debates on the Inquiries Bill as it continues its passage through Parliament.
	I have placed copies of the response in the Libraries of both Houses and it has also been published on the Department for Constitutional Affairs website at: www.dca.gov.uk.

Adam Ingram: On 1 November 2004, I informed the House that there would be a series of announcements relating to the Defence Logistics Transformation Programme. On 25 November 2004, following a period of trades union consultation, I announced the implementation of changes arising from the recommendations of the end-to-end review of the logistics process for military aircraft support. I indicated that, in addition to changes arising from air depth support, the application of end-to-end logistic principles would result in a reduction of around 1,500 RAF uniformed personnel and some reductions in MOD civilian posts at some RAF stations.
	As part of this continuing process, I am announcing today how the overall reductions in both RAF uniformed personnel and MOD civilians as a result of the application of the end-to-end logistic principles are expected to affect individual RAF stations. The civilian reductions will be subject to TU consultation. These efficiency reductions, together with the increase to the defence budget, will ensure that the Department can modernise its armed forces to meet tomorrow's challenges.
	Further work to identify efficiencies has now estimated that the reduction in the number of RAF uniformed personnel posts will be in the region of 2,000. With regard to MOD civilian posts, I anticipate that a net additional 70 posts will no longer be required. These changes will form part of the service and civilian manpower reductions of 7,500 and 10,000 respectively that were announced on 21 July last year.
	The effect on individual stations of these efficiencies are detailed in the table below. I expect the changes to be implemented by April 2008.
	
		
			 RAF Station Service 
			  Changes relating to aircraft depth support 1 Other Changes Total 
		
		
			 Brize Norton 180 120 300 
			 Cottesmore/Wittering 0 325 325 
			 Kinloss 35 145 180 
			 Leeming 0 215 215 
			 Leuchars 0 160 160 
			 Lossiemouth 340 360 700 
			 Lyneham 130 100 230 
			 Marham +340 370 30 
			 St Mawgan 90 85 175 
			 Waddington 0 125 125 
			 Total 435 2,005 2,440 
		
	
	
		
			 RAF Station Civilian 
			  Changes relating to aircraft depth support 1 Other Changes Total 
		
		
			 Brize Norton 0 0 0 
			 Cottesmore/Wittering 0 0 0 
			 Kinloss 0 20 20 
			 Leeming 0 20 20 
			 Leuchars 0 +10 +10 
			 Lossiemouth 50 +15 35 
			 Lyneham 0 0 0 
			 Marham 0 30 30 
			 St Mawgan 40 0 40 
			 Waddington 0 25 25 
			 Total 90 70 160 
		
	
	Note: All figures are reductions unless otherwise indicated. All numbers are rounded.
	1 Announced subject to Trades Union consultation 16 September 2004. Confirmed 25 November 2004.

Bill Rammell: Rammell): The United Kingdom, as lead nation, salutes the determination of President Karzai and his Government in implementing the 1384 (2005) Counter Narcotics Implementation Plan. The plan is a framework for action to accelerate all our efforts over the coming year and sets out counter-narcotics (CN) activities ahead under eight pillars:
	building institutions
	information campaign
	alternative livelihoods
	interdiction and law enforcement
	criminal justice
	eradication
	demand reduction and treatment of addicts
	regional cooperation.
	The adoption of this plan follows the successful holding by President Karzai in December 2004 of the first Counter Narcotics National Conference in Afghanistan. At that conference and since then, President Karzai has delivered powerful messages to reinforce his strong determination to act against all aspects of the narcotics trade.
	The UK welcomes this renewed commitment and joins with the wider international community in pledging our collective, increased support for the 2005 plan. There are some early signs that this year may see an overall reduction in opium poppy cultivation levels. However, as it is still early in the harvest cycle, we need to wait for the UN assessments later in the year on levels of cultivation and on how much of the crop in the fields has been destroyed.
	The UK has increased its spending to US$100 million this year on counter-narcotics activities in Afghanistan. Specifically, we are stepping up activity in support of the 2005 Plan in the following ways:
	On creating alternative livelihoods for farmers who currently grow opium poppy, following the visit of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for International Development to Afghanistan in January 2005, the UK has pledged US$125 million of support for alternative livelihoods in 2005–06; our alternative livelihoods commitment has more than doubled annually from 2002–03 to 2005–06. The UK is also leading the way in pressing some of the larger multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, to include counter narcotics objectives in their programmes. Activities include:
	substantial support to activities to bring short-term, visible impact in 2005, building on the US$5m already made available for "cash for work";
	support to a wide range of agricultural and off-farm income generating activities in poppy growing provinces;
	increasing access to credit to rural areas, and developing products to address the specific problem of opium debt;
	assessing opportunities to promote alternative products to opium poppy, and more favourable terms of trade for those products;
	improving the co-ordination and implementation of development and counter narcotics programmes in Badakhshan, where the UK has already committed more than US$7.5 million.
	On law enforcement, the UK has mapped out and is coordinating the development of the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA), working with other lead nations to establish the counter narcotics capacity of all Afghan law enforcement institutions. As part of the CNPA development plan, the UK establishing a further nine mobile detection teams (over 100 officers) in the next 18 months, capable of interdicting drug trafickers in Kabul and the provinces. We are also providing mentoring for intelligence and investigation units. We are looking to international donors to contribute to the CNPA development plan. We also welcome the recent results of the Afghan Special Narcotics Force (ASNF), for which the UK has provided advice and funding. The Force has seized over 75 tonnes of opiates, destroyed 80 drugs labs and disrupted two drugs bazaars during the last year;
	On developing the criminal justice system, the UK, working with the UN, has set up and completed the first phase of training and mentoring of the Counter Narcotics Criminal Justice Task Force of investigators, prosecutors and judges. The Task Force will be 80 strong by mid-2005. We have also funded UNODC (nearly US$2million) to establish a secure court and prison facility for counter narcotics;
	On eradication of the opium crop, this will be carried out in 2005 by the US-supported Central Poppy Eradication Force (CPEF) and by Governors and Police Chiefs at local level. The UK is working closely in both these areas and has established a Planning and Monitoring Cell to ensure that eradication by CPEF is targeted in a way which takes account of alternative livelihoods. We are also helping CPEF with salaries and equipment and are the major donor for verification and assessment of the eradication campaign to ensure it is carried out: over US$1 million to establish 30 ground-based verification teams (240 people) and satellite imagery. The first 15 verification teams should produce preliminary results by March.
	On building the institutions necessary to support long-term Afghan commitment, the UK is helping to build central and provincial capacity in a number of key government institutions, including the new Counter Narcotics (CN) Ministry under Minister Qaderi, the counter narcotics function within the Ministry of the Interior, the Rural Reconstruction Ministry, the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Civil Service Commission and the Cabinet Secretariat;
	On lobbying, my right hon. Friends the Foreign Secretary and the International Development Secretary have now launched a substantial lobbying campaign to encourage international partners, including the G8, the EU, the US, neighbouring countries of Afghanistan and other Berlin Conference participants, to support the Plan and help establish the new Counter Narcotics Trust Fund. The aim of this Fund will be to pull together donor support for the Afghan government's counter narcotics priorities. The April 2005 Afghan Development Forum will be an important opportunity for the Afghan government to seek additional support for alternative livelihoods;
	The UK is also working with Afghan and international partners—
	To raise public awareness of the risks to Afghanistan of the drugs trade and the dangers to health from addiction associated with growing opium poppy through proactive and comprehensive information campaigns and drug treatment activities;
	To increase regional co-operation to tackle the drugs trade across borders through implementation of the April 2004 Berlin Declaration on Counter Narcotics Within the Framework of the Kabul Good Neighbourly Relations Declaration of December 2002. In 2004–05, the UK provided around US$2.5 million of assistance to increase counter narcotics capacity on Afghanistan's borders with Iran, Pakistan and Tajikistan, the three main routes for opiates being smuggled out of Afghanistan. Further such assistance is planned for financial year 2005–06.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary (Mr. Jack Straw) visited Kabul on 16 February, the day President Karzai launched the 2005 CN Implementation Plan. They agreed on the crucial importance of working together in support of the Plan to mobilise international assistance so that narcotics does not destroy Afghanistan's potential for stability, reconstruction and a thriving licit economy. The 2005 Plan therefore represents an important opportunity. We share the resolve of the Afghan government to achieve the sustainable elimination of opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan in 2005 and beyond.
	I am placing copies of the plan in the Library of the House.

Rosie Winterton: We shall lay before the House regulations to increase National Health Service charges in England from 1 April 2005. There will be a cash increase in the prescription charge of 10p from £6.40 to £6.50 for each quantity of a drug or appliance dispensed.
	The cost of prescription prepayment certificates will rise to from £33.40 to £33.90 for a 4-month certificate and from £91.80 to £93.20 for an annual certificate. These offer savings for those needing more than five items in four months or 14 in one year.
	Some 86 per cent., of prescription items are dispensed in the community free of charge with another five per cent., of items dispensed to holders of prepayment certificates at no additional charge at the point of dispensing.
	Around 50 per cent, of the population are entitled to free prescriptions including:
	Men and women aged 60 and over
	Children under 16
	Young people aged 16, 17 and 18 who are in full time education
	Pregnant women and women who have had a child in the previous 12 months and who hold a valid exemption certificate
	People who hold a valid exemption certificate for a War Disablement but only in respect of medication for the disablement
	People suffering from certain medical conditions and who hold a valid exemption certificate
	People or their partners who get:
	Income Support
	Pension Credit guarantee credit
	Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
	Tax credit where income is £15,050 per year or less and meet qualifying conditions.
	People on low incomes who qualify under the NHS Low Income Scheme
	Prescription charges are expected to raise some £452 million for the NHS in 2005–06.
	Charges for elastic stockings and tights, wigs and fabric supports supplied through the Hospital Service will be increased similarly.
	The maximum patient charge for a single course of dental treatment begun on or after 1 April 2005 will increase from £378 to £384. Only around two in every 1000 dental courses of treatment incur the maximum charge.
	The prescription charge increase is the same as in the previous six years and is well below the current level of inflation. The other increases are in line with this percentage increase.
	In order to continue to provide help with the cost of spectacles or contact lenses to children, people on low income and individuals with complex sight problems, optical voucher values will rise by 2.5 per cent.
	NHS Charges and optical voucher values in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the Devolved Administrations.
	Details of the revised prescription, maximum dental charge and optical voucher values have been placed in the Library.

Long-Term Conditions (National Service Framework)

Stephen Ladyman: In February 2001, my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Health (Mr. Milburn) announced that the Department would be developing a new national service framework (NSF) with a particular focus on the needs of people with neurological conditions. I am pleased to announce that the long-term conditions NSF is today being published. It is an integral part of this Government's overall strategy to improve services for people with long-term conditions.
	This NSF covers the full range of issues for people with neurological conditions across health and social care. It has been developed through active consultation with key stakeholders, including people who use services and their carers, and the direct participation of experts and practitioners from the field.
	Although the NSF focuses on people with neurological conditions, much of the guidance it offers can apply to anyone living with a non-neurological long-term condition. Commissioners will therefore be encouraged to use the NSF in planning service developments for people with other long-term conditions.
	The long-term conditions NSF is an evidence-based, 10-year strategy, which advocates a cultural shift in the provision of care, with services being designed and delivered around the needs of people and their families. It highlights the need for high-quality services that offer choice and are prompt, convenient and responsive and that look at the whole person, rather than at a presenting illness or problem.
	The broad remit of the NSF is covered in 11 quality requirements, which are:
	A person-centred service
	Early recognition, prompt diagnosis and treatment
	Emergency and acute management
	Early and specialist rehabilitation
	Community rehabilitation and support
	Vocational rehabilitation
	Providing equipment and accommodation
	Providing personal care and support
	Palliative care
	Supporting family and carers
	Caring for people with neurological conditions in hospital or other health and social caresettings
	The long-term conditions NSF has been developed in line with this Government's wider public sector reforms, to devolve power and responsibility to local agencies. While the NSF sets out the levels of service quality which we expect to be available by 2015, the pace of change is to be left to local national health service and social care discretion to determine, and will be balanced against other priorities. The costs of implementing the NSF will be met from the additional resources announced in the 2004 spending review for the NHS and adult personal social services.
	Copies of the NSF for long-term conditions have been placed in the Library.

Jacqui Smith: I have today placed in the Libraries of both Houses copies of a consultation document entitled "European Company Law and Corporate Governance—Directive Proposals on Company Reporting, Capital Maintenance and Transfer of the Registered Office of a Company". This document is available on the DTI website at:
	http://www.dti.gov.uk/cld/current.htm. The consultation period ends on 3 June 2005.
	The consultation covers three proposals which form part of the European Commission's Action Plan on Company Law and Corporate Governance published in May 2003. The Commission has formally published two of the proposals. These are a Directive amending the Fourth and Seventh Accounting Directives and a Directive amending the Second Company Law Directive on Capital Maintenance. The commission is expected to publish shortly the third proposal, a directive on the cross border transfer of the registered office of a company.
	By covering all three proposals in one single consultation we hope to give stakeholders the opportunity not only to consider all proposals at the same time but also to understand how they relate to the overall framework of modernising company law and corporate governance in the EU.
	Amendments to the Fourth and Seventh Accounting Directives
	This proposal seeks to enhance confidence in financial statements and annual accounts published by European companies. It would introduce an annual Corporate Governance statement for publicly traded companies, tighten up accounting disclosure requirements and clarify the collective responsibility of directors towards the company for the annual report and accounts The Government support the broad principles behind the directive and believes that light touch common standards for disclosure should contribute to EU market confidence, encourage cross-border investment and facilitate cross-border access to capital. It is of the view that the requirements of the directive are broadly consistent with existing UK law and practice.
	The consultation seeks views on the extent to which the proposed disclosure requirements will place additional burdens on companies and whether they will be of value to users of company accounts. It also asks for views on the nature of the information the Commission is proposing be contained in the Corporate Governance Statement.
	Amendments to the Second Company Law Directive (Capital Maintenance)
	This proposal seeks to simplify the Second Company Law Directive so that it is easier for public limited liability companies to take measures affecting the size, structure and ownership of their capital. It contains provisions to simplify procedures for valuation of non-cash consideration for allocation of shares, acquisition of own shares, financial assistance and waiving of pre-emption rights. It also aims to enhance standardised creditor protection for reductions of capital and introduces "squeeze-out" and "sell-out" rights of majority and minority shareholders respectively. The Government support the objective of streamlining measures to reduce burdens for business behind this proposal but has reservations about the real deregulatory benefits it will bring in practice.
	The consultation seeks views on a number of issues to determine whether the changes in the proposal will have a significant beneficial impact for companies wanting to change their capital structures. It raises a number of areas where the proposals could lead to uncertainty on whether and how certain provisions will apply. It also seeks views on the proposed introduction of "squeeze-out" and "sell-out" rights in situations other than takeovers.
	Additionally, later this year the Commission intends to start a study to look at more radical reform of the capital maintenance regime and the Government invite views on the overall merits of reform of this nature.
	Proposal for a Directive on the Cross Border Transfer of Registered Office
	This proposal will establish a legal framework for companies registered in the EU to transfer their registered office from one Member State to another without having to be wound up. In Great Britain both public and private companies registered under the Companies Act 1985 would be able to utilise the proposed transfer structure. The Government support the measure as one which should extend the opportunities for corporate restructuring across the EU.
	This consultation is based on the proposals contained in the Commission's e-consultation carried out in spring 2004. It explores whether the overall proposal will be useful to UK companies and seeks views on the details of the procedures to be followed.